Change? Deal With It!

So they are renovating my apartment building in Marina del Rey, and they made everyone move out.  I’ve lived there for 10 years and would have stayed forever—the view was killer.  I know “moving” is 100 points on the Holmes-Rahe Stress Scale, right up there with the death of a family member and the birth of a child.   I know, I know, but even “happy change” is “change” and stressful.  I just didn’t expect it to be THAT stressful.  I’ll spare you the gory details—we’ve all been through it—suffice it to say the movers were on my job for over 15 hours, and that was a week ago.  I’m still digging out (unpacking) but saved unpacking the bedroom with my HD television for Sunday, so I could unpack and watch the games.

When I saw the Ravens’ Ed Reed intercept a Steelers ball in the end zone, I cheered aloud, because I hate the Steelers.  But I realized I could be Ed Reed.  Interception, in my definition, is looking for an opportunity in a non-traditional place, and taking advantage of that opportunity.  So, while he is on the Defense, he’s always looking for the ball, because you only score points on the field and in life, when you TAKE the ball.  In my football book, I talk about quarterbacking your life.  I wrote that we usually don’t have an option in life to punt our responsibilities down the field.  I wanted my apartment contents to be magically packed and transported and unpacked in a “voila” moment, but that wasn’t going to happen.  So I took the opportunity to CLEAN OUT!  Throwing away, donating, gifting, is SO SATISFYING!  It truly feels like taking the ball in my hands and powering through the line!  I discarded quite a bit when I was packing, but this last week of unpacking has yielded more crap to get rid of.

The great, unexpected opportunity gave me a chance to approach “change” with the mind I write about in my football book:  Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome.  So I did that last weekend, while I was unpacking and finding new places for all my stuff.  And you know what I discovered?  I seem to have MORE closet space here (probably because I “cleaned out”) AND the cabinet shelves in the kitchen are LOWER, so I, in my 5-feet tall splendor, can reach TWO WHOLE SHELVES, without needing one of my many step-stools.  Now, there’s a “voila” moment for ya.  What an interception I pulled off by moving.  Me and Ed Reed—great partners.